Do we make too much of a past President death?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Phil

what were his wishes?
who went against them?
how much did it cost?
where could the money have been better used?
does anyone actually deserve a funeral like this?

He was as genuinely humble a man, as a politician can be. The private services last week are as far as he wished to be honored. The whole dog & pony show in Washington, is about tradition and for the benefit of the office, not for Jerry Ford.

Cost? Who knows, probably enough to finance the invasion of a smallish nation...maybe a Caribbean island.

I never forgave him for pardoning Nixon. I watched the political pundits, that were in Washington at the time, on TV this morning. They seem to agree, it looked like a deal, but wasn't. Guess it's like cops not ticketing cops....don't break the tradition because you might be next.

That said, it galls me that Nixon walked away scot free. Disgrace? BFD! The son of a bitch lived in palatial splendor with the best of everything, at my expense, when he should have been in jail.

Yes Virginia, he was a crook!

[Phil]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

He was as genuinely humble a man, as a politician can be. The private services last week are as far as he wished to be honored. The whole dog & pony show in Washington, is about tradition and for the benefit of the office, not for Jerry Ford.

Cost? Who knows, probably enough to finance the invasion of a smallish nation...maybe a Caribbean island.

I never forgave him for pardoning Nixon. I watched the political pundits, that were in Washington at the time, on TV this morning. They seem to agree, it looked like a deal, but wasn't. Guess it's like cops not ticketing cops....don't break the tradition because you might be next.

That said, it galls me that Nixon walked away scot free. Disgrace? BFD! The son of a bitch lived in palatial splendor with the best of everything, at my expense, when he should have been in jail.

Yes Virginia, he was a crook!

thank you.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

You ask me, the "I can't forgive him for pardoning Nixon" people are too damn hungry for blood, and this does not do them credit. It's partisan, and it's overdone.

It only appears partisan to party line drones.
Real Americans would punish a tyrant that brings the country to the brink of destruction.... like hanging on New years Eve.

While it cost him a second term -- that, and general disgust in the electorate for the behavior of all the inside-the-Beltway set because of Watergate, which was what really let Carter take the election -- it did put the whole nation in that's-over, move-on mode, which was a distinct improvement over the alternative the vengeance-takers call out for.

That's-over, move-on mode? Bullshit. The damage Nixon did to this country is mostly irreparable, ten times more than the end of Camelot in Dallas, that many refer to as the end of good times.

Nixon created a riff, distrust, antagonism, between the government and the people, that has developed into mutual disrespect. That opened the door for Haliburton, Trial Lawyers Assoc, big oil, big drugs, etc to blatantly take control.

No more under the table money for favors. Now it's on the table, big bucks, buy a politician, because the corporates and politicians don't care about the voter anymore. They know there's only a 30% chance he'll vote at all. Even if he does vote, they don't have to count it because they control the voting system.

And the response from John Q Public?.... I'm not surprised, says John, forgetting, the fact that he's grown to expect bad behavior by the politicians doesn't make it any less wrong.
But in defense of John Q, he feels helpless and alone in the face of government and their puppet masters.
Why? Because of Richard M Nixon, may he burn in hell.